Volume 39 -10th Aniversary

I was just recently reminded that this issue is the “10th Anniversary” of the voice magazine. I personally want to congratulate the staff and everyone that has been involved over the years for making this small local entertainment magazine one of the more popular reading papers in the area. And it is growing every day. I often get people call me that have read my articles all the way from the west side of the Cleveland area. They have either picked up the magazine from a work place nearer the east side or have heard about it from a friend. The thing that I think makes it so interesting is that it’s not all about the advertizing .It actually has some very good review articles and usually has a feature articles of great upcoming events or other interesting tidbits about various musical icons or of the seasonal activities. Many readers have expressed to me how they read every issue from front to back. (I’m one of them) I also ran into my good friend Mr. Jim Ailes (bassist for the Lost Sheep Band) last week and he reminded me that the first issue of the Voice, there is a feature article on the areas hottest bands, the Lost Sheep Band. This also peaked my interest because it brought back many fine memories of the time when I myself was in the Lost Sheep band. Not many people remember that now (and that’s o.k.) but I was one of the original members. I had also played bass ( not my main instrument) I think that I played with them for about two years which means the Lost Sheep have been supplying this local area with fun live performances for over twelve yrs. If that doesn’t make you feel old nothing will! I just last Saturday night got the privilege to see and hear all of my good friends play at the Wagon Wheel Restaurant and Bar. I want to say that even though the crowd wasn’t has large as I had expected it to be, the energy level and fun that the Lost Sheep Band still gives the audience is amazing. You can actually feel how much fun these guys are having when there performing on stage. It’s very infectious! Congratulations to them also and to all of their hard work. While I’m giving thanks, I certainly don’t want to forget all of the areas other hard working bands and musicians that have committed their talents to the enjoyment of the masses that come to see them every weekend. And thanks again to the Voice for letting us know where and when all of these good musicians are playing so that we can go see them. I wonder what life would be like without this harmony of musicians and audiences? Very boring I’m sure. I guess we could all read books (not that I don’t like reading, It’s just hard to dance to).One musician and long time good friend that has recently come back on the scene is Miss Susan Hagan. She is currently hosting an intimate acoustic open mike on Wednesday evenings at the Old Mill Winery from 6:30 to 8:30. For those of you who like to play to a small intimate crowd, this could be your favorite place this winter. I myself have played there a couple of times now and it has inspired me to get back into playing and singing again. . Come out for some good dinner and some great music.

Well I know this article is my opportunity to tell the readers about instrument repair and other related articles so let me tell you what‘s been going down in the shop lately. I’m just finishing up a copy of a Stratocaster kit guitar.

The customer came to me after he had started on it and wanted me to finish it. I gladly said yes! It has turned out to be one of the more difficult jobs that I have ever done. Not in the regard to putting it all together but in the finishing department I have had numerous problems. For starters the customer had originally put on a couple of coats of acrylic finish on it. It was white and by itself did not look to bad. Other than some detailing in the sanding it wasn’t too bad. I put a sealer of shellac over the original finish and attempted to top coat it with an opaque white nitrocellouse lacquer. The lacquer apparently attacked the previous finish and it bubbled, cracked and did things that I can’t even mention. It was very bad. I then had to strip the entire finish from the guitar and start from scratch. Well I thought that might be the end of my nightmare, but realized it was just the beginning. Every time I sprayed a coat of white on the body I found some speck of dust or small hair or something from my spray gun had got into the finish. I carefully picked or sanded out the problems and after completely cleaning my spray booth and shop, I went back to spraying again. I had a little better success, but still had an occasional speck or so. I‘ve come to realize that white is not the easiest color to paint your guitar. In the future, I will try to steer my customers away from it. After way too many hours of frustrating finish problems I have finally got it to the buffing stage and I’m putting it all together now. Of course I scratched a small area that I had to retouch up, but finally it is ready to go. I have never been happier to see an instrument leave my shop than this one. The bright side is (and there always is one) that everything I do after this will feel like a piece of cake! Thanks again to the Voice magazine and to all of you that listen to my stories every couple of weeks. Please “Stay in tune” till next time! Thanks again! Patrick from Wood-n-Strings